› added 10 months ago

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TIL that the first item ever securely purchased over the Internet was a compact disc of Sting's Ten Summoner's Tales. It sold for $12.48 plus shipping.

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KY0wG TIL: In the Canadian province of Quebec, people who died during the winter must be cremated or interred by 15 May.
ZpDKp TIL France sent huge numbers of convicts to French Guinea until 1938, where 75-95% eventually died
kOJaW TIL that U.S. paper money "utilizes green ink on the backs, but faces use black, color-shifting, metallic ink, and other inks which are specially formulated and blended by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing"
E1ydw TIL of The Rolex Murder. On July 28, 1996, a man’s body washed up on a trawler in the UK seas. There was no identification on the body except a 25-year-old Rolex Oyster on his wrist. As Rolex maintains such meticulous service records, they were able to ID the victim and ultimately the murderer.
VMoGD TIL that in the year 1909, the British Intelligence Agency MI6 was formed but it was kept such a secret that it wasn't formally acknowledged until the year 1994.